Did Jesus and Mary Magdalene have a sexual relationship?
Yale Divinity School dean Harold Attridge asked this question recently in a short piece prepared in response to The Da Vinci Code. He concludes that such a relationship was improbable based on his interpretation of the Gospel of Philip, one of the codices discovered in the 1940's in Upper Egypt near the town of Nag Hammadi.
The Gospel of Philip has caused quite a stir for several reasons. It says Jesus' companion (also translated as "consort") was Mary Magdalen, and that he "loved Mary more than the rest of us because he used to kiss her on the ____ [hole in the text]." Philip also speaks of a "stainless physical union" which has great power. Early scholars translated the 'union' phrase as "undefiled intercourse," which would mean that the text advises, "Understand/seek the undefiled intercourse, for it has great power." However, in recent years orthodox scholars have tended to translate the phrase as "pure embrace" or "marriage." Attridge claims that it is a reference to an early Christian practice of offering one's fellow worshipers a kiss, known in some circles as "passing the peace."
I wonder. Like French scholar Jean-Yves Leloup, I believe there is strong evidence that the Gospel of Philip is speaking of actual intercourse, and not the ritual kiss that "passes the peace."
Admittedly, I approach this gospel from an unusual angle. For years I have been intrigued by ancient Taoist prescriptions for overcoming disharmony between the sexes. The Taoists advise another way of making love, during which orgasm is avoided. This is a laughable concept in today's media-driven, thrill-seeking culture, yet in the experience of my husband and myself it does promote harmony between the sexes, and works quite well even for the sex-positive.
The same insight about benefit from this type of lovemaking has turned up in other cultures (Tantric left-hand path of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths) and even in the writing of a somewhat infamous 19th century graduate of the Yale Divinity School, John Humphrey Noyes (Male Continence)....
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